Channeling Chanel in a Handwoven Pleated Skirt

Designed and woven by Benjamin Krudwig

Chanel tweed—this iconic fabric rose to fame in the 1920s when Coco Chanel commissioned fabric from a Scottish textile manufacturer. She then used it in her line of jackets, blazers, and skirts. To this day, Chanel still uses these classic textiles in their collections.

When Anzula asked me to try out their new yarn Dottie, I wove some samples. The black tweedy flecks made a beautiful textured fabric that immediately reminded me of Chanel. With my love of fashion, and a desire to create garments that are beyond "loom-shaped," I decided to make a handwoven pleated skirt. While a Chanel-inspired jacket would have been fun, I wanted to create a project that even a beginner could handle!

The skirt is completely customizable as far as sizing and length goes. The pleats are approximately 3" wide, which meant I needed to weave 9" of fabric per pleat. (Of course this measurement shrinks a little after washing, but it gave me a good baseline.) Also, since I was set on using a small loom, my fabric was going to be woven in two panels, then seamed along one selvedge. My warp was about 15.5" wide, which after seaming and washing gave me about 28" of length. You can increase or decrease the weaving width to create the length of skirt you want. Calculate 9" of woven fabric for each 3" of the finished waist measurement.

Multiple yarns and colors in the warp and the weft make a visually interesting fabric, full of tonal depth and texture. The pleats themselves also create an exciting runway moment—since the interior color differs from the exterior color, gold peeks out from under the blue as the wearer walks. If I were sewing this skirt from commercial fabric, I’d have to piece it together from different colored strips. Handweaving let me weave the color into the fabric. I wove 3" of blue, then 6" of gold, using a template that sat along the outside edge of my weaving. I tracked the number of 9" sections so I could make two identical panels.

My sewing machine only came out for the asymmetrical hem: I ran a line of stitching around the bottom edge, cut the fabric about 1.5" below that line, and frayed the hem. I then hand-washed the skirt, laid it flat to dry, and pressed the pleats all the way down their length for a crisp finish.

Project Specs

Finished size: 28–30" waist circumference x 22–28" length

To customize the waist size, allow 9" of woven fabric per 3" of waist (before shrinkage). Be sure to replicate the stripes for each panel. To customize the length, take the total length (before shrinkage) and divide by two—this number is your weaving width.

Weave structure: plain weave

Number of warp ends: Dottie 104, Luster 52

Warp length: 7 yards

Width in reed: 15.5"

EPI: 10

PPI: 10